An improved tabular data generator with VAE-GMM integration

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Apellániz, Patricia A., Parras, Juan, Zazo, Santiago
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Apellániz, Patricia A.
Parras, Juan
Zazo, Santiago
author_facet Apellániz, Patricia A.
Parras, Juan
Zazo, Santiago
contents The rising use of machine learning in various fields requires robust methods to create synthetic tabular data. Data should preserve key characteristics while addressing data scarcity challenges. Current approaches based on Generative Adversarial Networks, such as the state-of-the-art CTGAN model, struggle with the complex structures inherent in tabular data. These data often contain both continuous and discrete features with non-Gaussian distributions. Therefore, we propose a novel Variational Autoencoder (VAE)-based model that addresses these limitations. Inspired by the TVAE model, our approach incorporates a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture model (BGM) within the VAE architecture. This avoids the limitations imposed by assuming a strictly Gaussian latent space, allowing for a more accurate representation of the underlying data distribution during data generation. Furthermore, our model offers enhanced flexibility by allowing the use of various differentiable distributions for individual features, making it possible to handle both continuous and discrete data types. We thoroughly validate our model on three real-world datasets with mixed data types, including two medically relevant ones, based on their resemblance and utility. This evaluation demonstrates significant outperformance against CTGAN and TVAE, establishing its potential as a valuable tool for generating synthetic tabular data in various domains, particularly in healthcare.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_08434
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An improved tabular data generator with VAE-GMM integration
Apellániz, Patricia A.
Parras, Juan
Zazo, Santiago
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
I.2.1
The rising use of machine learning in various fields requires robust methods to create synthetic tabular data. Data should preserve key characteristics while addressing data scarcity challenges. Current approaches based on Generative Adversarial Networks, such as the state-of-the-art CTGAN model, struggle with the complex structures inherent in tabular data. These data often contain both continuous and discrete features with non-Gaussian distributions. Therefore, we propose a novel Variational Autoencoder (VAE)-based model that addresses these limitations. Inspired by the TVAE model, our approach incorporates a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture model (BGM) within the VAE architecture. This avoids the limitations imposed by assuming a strictly Gaussian latent space, allowing for a more accurate representation of the underlying data distribution during data generation. Furthermore, our model offers enhanced flexibility by allowing the use of various differentiable distributions for individual features, making it possible to handle both continuous and discrete data types. We thoroughly validate our model on three real-world datasets with mixed data types, including two medically relevant ones, based on their resemblance and utility. This evaluation demonstrates significant outperformance against CTGAN and TVAE, establishing its potential as a valuable tool for generating synthetic tabular data in various domains, particularly in healthcare.
title An improved tabular data generator with VAE-GMM integration
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
I.2.1
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.08434